Its amazing how many people have a college degree but no knowledge
of how their body works. There should be practical courses about
health and preventive medicine offered in high school since not all
go to college. Why we don't have real education requirement for
health and life safety I'll never know. Most health classes are
entirely out of touch with reality and true science. It is
apparent that it takes more than common sense to communicate with a
physician but what is common sense in our current economy of quick
fix solutions and debt anxiety treated with sedatives and
antidepressants instead of fiscal sense. Physicians need to know
that their patients can understand them and then they would teach
them more. Every patient chart should indicate an estimate of
medical knowledge and physicians should practice educating from the
top down until they improve communication. Health brochures on
various topics could be discussed briefly to draw attention to
them, not just handed out without a word or not provided at all.
These could also be sent by e-mail to reinforce their importance
that they are not just something to circular file after leaving the
doctor. Waiting room walls should be decorated in educational art
posters because pictures are worth a thousand words and this would
also get patients to interact and discuss preventive medicine
while waiting. Follow up visits should refer to the brochures to
see if they have followed the advice or have any questions. E-
mails to patients should provide links to their person EHR files so
they are more likely to review the information. Each EHR should
have a response link for patients to draw our attention to errors
or omissions. These should be flagged for physician assistants to
act upon and draw the attention of the physician to serious
errors. With a little imagination and educational design, much
could be done but this requires physicians working with IT staff
and IT programmers becoming accountable to physicians and
patients, not just EHR CEOs, stock holders and hospital
administrators who have a different set of priorities..

Casey Quinlan

12/12/12

OK, let me get this straight. After what amounts to centuries of ivory-tower healthcare, where patients
were expected to sit down, shut up, and be good little meat puppets, now we're being judged as
lacking in the understanding of HIT?
Sorry, but I'm not buying it. Healthcare has historically hidden our records, and our data, from us
unless someone was being paid to share it with us. As the doors to our own health records are slowly
being pried open, we are accused of being too dumb to understand what's in those records? Not true.
We might not be entirely conversant with every term in clinical literature, but we are certainly able to
understand a meds list and our overall history information.
And how about that med-rec issue raised by ONCHIT's Farzad Motashari? I quote:
"I can't tell you how many providers have said to me, 'You know, I'm concerned about this. What are
they going to do with this? Why do they need this anyway?'", Mostashari said. On the other hand, "I
can't tell you how many patients have said to me, 'You know, it was amazing what was in there. I
caught two medication errors."
Simply on med-rec alone, how many medical errors could be prevented if patients could see, and
manage, the records pertaining to their meds?
If there's something patients need to know in order to assist with meaningful use, wouldn't it be better
to educate us rather than treat us like we're too dumb to participate?
Paternalism in medicine isn't healing people. And with the rise of HIT, paternalism could wind up
hurting, even killing, patients by not enabling them to fully participate in their care. Patients who
understand how to interact with HIT systems can help medical teams educate other patients on how to
access and use their records.
Let patients help. You'll be AMAZED at what can happen..

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